What backpacker bus to travel with in New Zealand?

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There are three main companies that offer bus trips around New Zealand with the opportunity to hop-off and hop-on: Stray, Kiwi Experience and Magic.

All these companies seem to do the same trips, but if you have a closer look at them you are going to see the differences.

First of all Stray travels with smaller busses, which allows you to quickly get to know the whole group and to make friends easily, as there are not too many people.

Kiwi Experience, known as the “party bus”, has a slightly younger audience than Magic or Stray. Of course you are also going to have some epic night out with the other buses as well.

Stray and Kiwi Experience both offer a free day tour around Auckland to get a first taste of the product and see what trips they offer. Both include free bridge climbs on the Auckland Harbour Bridge and can be booked through central Auckland hostels or calling them directly.

Stray is known for going further off the beaten track, whereas Kiwi Experience and Magic mostly go to the main tourist attractions that are often run over by people.

Stray also goes to those places but we also stays at places where other busses do not go like Raglan or Mt Cook. Raglan is a famous surfer town and Stray stays at a lodge right in the middle of the wild forest that includes a surf school. Especially travelers that are interested in surfing will enjoy this stop.

On top of that Stray is the only bus company that stays one extra day on Steward Island, so you can discover that place without missing the bus and leaving your friends on the bus. Stray is known for adventurous activities (hunting, rafting, surfing…) and also for the focus on wilderness. It is the only company that offers a Maori overnight stay experience. This gives travelers the opportunity to get to know the culture of New Zealand’s natives and even learn the famous Haka!

Compared to the other two companies Stray stays at or close by many national parks and also has an over night stop at New Zealand’s highest mountain Mt Cook.

I found Stray a good option for active people that want to get to know New Zealand beauty in a very authentic way with many great activities and a multicultural bunch of people.

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